“Gauge matters.” “You need to swatch.”
I’m sure you’ve heard these things before, and likely more than once. You’ve probably even heard the cautionary tale of someone painstakingly knitting the perfect sweater for hours on end only to discover it doesn’t come close to fitting because, you guessed it: their gauge was way off.
Usually when people talk about gauge, they focus on the stitch count—that is how many stitches are in each 4” or 10 cm of fabric. This is with good reason. The existence of one more measly stitch over every 4” / 10 cm is enough add inches to the width of your finished garment.
But today I want to talk about row/round gauge, or how many rows/rounds that you have over 4” / 10 cm. This gets less attention, and often people will tell you to ignore it completely. Sometimes, it might be perfectly fine to just knit until you reach your desired length. But sometimes ignoring it will destroy your project.
There are three big reasons that row gauge matters: it affects yarn estimates, patterning, and shaping.
Yardage Estimates
Yardage requirements provided in patterns are not created out of thin air. The number of rows knit is factored in when figuring out how much yarn you need for that project. If you are knitting 10 rows for every 5 rows that exist in the sample of a pattern, you are going to end up using roughly 50% more yarn than the pattern told you to buy. If you are at all worried about running out of yarn, pay attention to your row gauge.
Patterning
In cabled projects like my Beckett Ridge Cardigan, working more or fewer rows per inch than instructed will either cause the cables to either compress or elongate.
If you are working on a project with a pattern, colorwork, or cable, be aware that the number of rows you knit will affect the way your pattern turns out. What might look cute in the sample photo could easily end up distorted (and possibly significantly so) if your row gauge doesn’t match that used for the sample.
Shaping
Row gauge affects anything with shaping. Sometimes this is a bigger deal than others. If you are knitting a set-in sleeve with instructions that say something along the lines of “continue as established until armhole measures x”/x cm”, you are probably going to be fine. But if you are knitting a raglan sleeve and your gauge is off, you can easily end up with an armhole that does not come close to fitting and never will.
In a yoked sweater like this Parson’s Green, working too few or to many rounds per inch will change the depth of the yoke—which determines how far down your armhole extends. It could make for one very uncomfortable sweater.
Row gauge is also going to affect any waist shaping and any decreases at the arm. If you’re instructed to decrease every 5th round of a sleeve and you’re knitting one more round than called for, one of two things will happen: you are either going to end up with too long of a sleeve or you will have more stitches than you need at the wrist. Aside from the yardage and patterning considerations listed above, it’s not a huge deal and you can work around it. Be sure to take into consideration the difference in row gauge and adjust the decrease frequency accordingly.